Oh, November. You were another rollercoaster of emotions.

After seeing a doctor about the pain I was experiencing in October, I was caught in a whirlwind of appointments and phone calls. The end result – I was booked for surgery. Recovery time was estimated to be 48 hours. Not bad, right?! But as I write this post I’m still in pain. Hence my social media blackout and lack of blog posts…

On the plus side?! I’m finally getting my energy back. So I decided to sit down and write my Month in Review. As I scrolled through my photos, I realized that even though this was another difficult month, there were so many moments scattered throughout the weeks to be thankful for. Here are a few of them.

November started off on a high note – my Dad’s birthday! Ian and I drove home for a weekend celebration. First, we tried our hand at frisbee golf. Clearly, we were all newbies. Just look at our frisbee selection! We spent the afternoon in a fit of giggles as we attempted to make our way through the course, hitting trees and all other obstacles in our way.

After our abysmal performance on the frisbee golf course, we drove to Ski Hi to treat ourselves with caramel apples before heading to dinner. Seeing as it was a birthday celebration, eating dessert before dinner seemed acceptable. (But honestly, when is it not?!) Looking back, this weekend was one of my favorite memories from November.

My surgery was booked in for the middle of the month, so my stomach was in knots the days leading up to my appointment. Luckily, I had a wonderful surgeon and everything went smoothly. Ian took a few days off of work to keep me company while I recovered and even surprised me with a mini gingerbread house! While it hurt to laugh at this point, a few giggles snuck out while we were decorating our little masterpiece.

November was also the month that my grandma passed away. Her funeral was bittersweet as we reminisced about her life and took comfort that she is reunited with my grandpa. My grandma loved family gatherings and never passed up the chance to have a bit of fun. Therefore, having her funeral reception at the local bowling alley seemed fitting. Everyone gathered to share a meal, a story and a few laughs to celebrate her life.

Then, in a blink of an eye November came to a close. I usually feel a tinge of sadness while I flip the page over to the next month in our calendar, but to be honest, November was rough. I’m looking forward to setting the reset button and getting lost in December’s holiday spirit. So bring on the Christmas carols, cutout cookies, and twinkle lights!

Catch a glimpse of our month in the video below! We filmed one second every day in November!